To get the inside scoop on Sweden’s thriving music scene, as well as the genres and artists breaking through, For the Record sat down with Emma Vikström, Spotify Music Editorial Lead in the Nordics.
What makes the Swedish music scene so unique?
Despite being a small country, Sweden exports the most music per capita. Our artists have had a major impact globally, and Spotify data shows that Swedish artists are streamed more outside of our country than within.
There are legendary groups like ABBA that helped shape the sound of pop music, trendsetters like Robyn that have had an outsized influence on the artistry of stars like Tove Lo, and ubiquitous icons like Avicii that left an indelible mark on dance music.
Songwriters and producers have been just as important to our music culture as well, if not more! You know your favorite global hit? There’s a good chance a Swedish songwriter or producer was involved. Max Martin defined an entire generation of pop music and is still making his presence felt through artists like Ariana Grande. And there are so many more examples. Ludwig Göransson has worked with Rihanna, Patrik Berger has worked with Taylor Swift, and Carl Falk has worked with One Direction, to name a few.
Was this still the case in 2024?
New releases from Swedish artists are definitely finding fans abroad.
Looking back at 2024, we saw notable releases from hitmakers like Galantis, Zara Larsson, and Robyn, and they all resonated with a global audience. And interestingly, artists who may not be familiar names globally—like Elliphant, Benjamin Ingrosso, and Mapei—have also found new fans abroad. Swedish songwriters Noonie Bao and Linus Wiklund also influenced a whole world with Charli Xcx’s “Apple,” one of the biggest songs from “Brat Summer.”
And we can’t forget that last year’s Wrapped also revealed Bladee as the most-streamed artist among other artists.
How do you explain the massive global appeal of Swedish music?
From a creative perspective, Sweden has a well-developed music education system, with many young people learning to sing, play instruments, and write songs from an early age. There’s a collective affinity for melodic pop sounds here thanks to popular music competitions like Melodifestivalen and generational melodic wealth of ABBA’s catalogue. And because many Swedish artists sing in English, their songs have a larger global appeal that has increased with the help of Spotify.
From an industry perspective, this global appeal has definitely been aided by Spotify and the overall growth of digital audio and streaming.
And looking at this in the opposite direction, music fans in Sweden are also early adopters who are tapped into global sounds. The first region where Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” landed a number-one hit was in Sweden and Nordics.
How do Spotify’s editorial playlists shape music trends in Sweden and the rest of the world?
Our playlists highlight the best and most culturally relevant music for users, but in contextual ways. Some playlists will cater to different tastes, moods, and times of day. Other playlists, like New Music Friday Sweden and pov, highlight the new or trending hits. Fresh Finds Nordics surfaces unsigned artists for the listeners who love being the first to know about an artist. And Hot Hits is all about the biggest hits on the planet right now, plain and simple.
It’s also been exciting to watch Teddy Swims, Benson Boone, and GAYLE make waves in the music world at large, as well as our global playlist ecosystem. They all had their “first hits” playlist adds in Nordics or Sweden and reached the top of the charts here before anywhere. Nordic users love discovering new music and being first with trends, which makes our curation strategy even more bold. We bet on songs in our playlist ecosystems that then eventually turn into global hits and keep our users satisfied.
Music sharing and discovery continue to evolve. How does this benefit artists and consumers?
Artists from almost anywhere in the world have a chance to be discovered. A Swedish artist could have a bigger fan base and audience in other countries, and artists from other countries could have bigger fan bases in Sweden. That’s the beauty of Spotify being global by design.
For listeners, it has never been easier to find their new favorite artists. With more than 100 million songs on Spotify today, there’s something for everyone to discover. And sometimes, those discoveries happen through the songs and artists and genres recommended by our editors.
We’re aware of the responsibility that our platform has to spotlight promising artists who may be in the early stages of their careers or are just breaking through to stardom and take active strides to ensure we support these by leaning into the Best New Artist category at Grammis or developing our Fresh Finds Nordics flagship.
What are some emerging trends you’re seeing?
What we saw in 2024, and what’s still reflected by our 2025 Artists To Watch, is that Sweden’s emerging and independent scene is thriving more than ever. All kinds of new subgenres are popping up, and genre-fluid acts are breaking through, and the result is music that will put Sweden on the map in a new way. We have a crop of new Swedish artists that could be mentioned in the same sentence as 070 Shake, Clairo, or Girl In Red. It’s super cool and exciting to see these artists exploring a new type of Swedish export.
We’re also a proud sponsor of the Grammis in Sweden, and we recently had the honor of announcing the nominees for the Best New Artist category. Looking at some of the names on that list, we’re seeing an influx of artists who are taking country music with a Johnny Cash–inspired sound and putting a distinctly Swedish spin on it. There are also left-field female acts like ORKID and Becky and the Birds who are exploring a nontraditional sound in their music and expression. And lastly, Swedish hip-hop continues to introduce rising stars like Best New Artist nominee Y4ska, who had two songs on the local Top 20 list in 2024.
What are you currently listening to?
I’ve been listening to three acts from Sweden with big export potential, representing the current wave of emerging, genre-fluid Swedish music in the most perfect way: Becky and the Birds, ABY iO, and Boko Yout. They’re making really interesting and captivating music!
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source newsroom.spotify.com ’
